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Back The Nest Save as PDF
Chapters (82)
  1. Cover
  2. Copyright page
  3. Introduction by Will Errickson
  4. Acknowledgements
  5. TREMORS
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. SUSPICIONS
  13. 1
  14. 2
  15. 3
  16. 4
  17. 5
  18. DREAD
  19. 1
  20. 2
  21. 3
  22. 4
  23. 5
  24. 6
  25. WITNESS
  26. 1
  27. 2
  28. 3
  29. ALERT
  30. 1
  31. 2
  32. 3
  33. 4
  34. 5
  35. ENCOUNTER
  36. 1
  37. 2
  38. 3
  39. 4
  40. 5
  41. 6
  42. HAVOC
  43. 1
  44. 2
  45. 3
  46. 4
  47. 5
  48. 6
  49. SEARCH
  50. 1
  51. 2
  52. 3
  53. 4
  54. 5
  55. CLASH
  56. 1
  57. 2
  58. 3
  59. 4
  60. 5
  61. 6
  62. 7
  63. COUNTERATTACK
  64. 1
  65. 2
  66. 3
  67. 4
  68. 5
  69. 6
  70. 7
  71. VICTORY
  72. 1
  73. 2
  74. 3
  75. 4
  76. 5
  77. 6
  78. 7
  79. 8
  80. 9
  81. EPILOGUE
  82. About the Author

By the time they neared the shore, none of the youngsters was without painful bruises and livid scratches. The sea water kept washing away the dripping blood, but David saw that Kim had a large open slash down one leg. He could not stop to stanch the flow. He needed a hand to help keep his own footing, and the other to clasp his sister’s trembling little body as they fought their way along with the others. He tried to get Kim to drop the doll she had insisted on taking to the picnic, but she hugged it as tightly as he was hugging her.

Clambering and slipping over the uneven boulders, the children, followed by the scarecrow figure of the minister, made a forlorn procession of disaster silhouetted against glowering clouds. With thunder and lightning splitting the sky and ocean, the children looked like pathetic puppets in a tragic storm painting.

Despite the hazards of the rocks, waves, and storm the whole party reached the shore. Jumping off the last rock onto the sand, George Kinray fell to his knees in a new prayer, of thanksgiving. The storm had carried them to the brink of death, but the same boulders that had wrecked their boat had been like a strong arm of the Lord stretched into the sea to shepherd them to solid ground.

The minister rose and assessed the situation. The wet children were shivering in the wind. First things first—Kinray sent a squad of older youths to gather wood. They couldn’t make a fire in the trees because of the drought, but they could dry off nicely on the beach. He judged there was still time before the tide covered the strand entirely. Then they could make it home safely. The sheriff’s office had acknowledged his SOS, so help was probably already on the way. The good Lord had indeed saved the day.

The minister watched with pride as his young charges scattered to find wood. Others, without being ordered or instructed, were digging a large hole in the sand, in which a fire could be built out of the wind. The children were beginning to smile, even laugh. The terror of the shipwreck had not taken them. They were sorry for the Tub, more than sorry. But they were safe, and that was what mattered to a sailor in the end.

When the older children had dug the pit, the younger children began to construct a sand wall around it. The minister, regarding them fondly, thought how typical it was of the young heart to be wracked with life-­and-­death suspense one moment and in another be resiliently building castles in the sand.